Christopher Barklem
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Batam, Batam City, Riau Islands, Indonesia
Toptal member since March 12, 2022
Christopher is one of the most experienced creative minds in the industry, with over two decades in product design. Over 25 million users utilize his interactions on a day-to-day basis. His award-winning work is integrated into over 700 banks worldwide (100 million users), in small to enterprise companies, as seen in SaaS, B2B, B2C, C2C, government, and education. Christopher is a creative leader with over a decade of experience building and managing creative teams.
Work Experience
UX Leader | UX Manager | Creative Director | Senior UX Designer | Senior Product Designer
Freelance
- Contributed to building a digital onboarding process for Banco Sabadell by leading the project's user experience with an ambitious target of nine months. The project went live to the public in December 2021.
- Designed the award-winning National Geographic Learning education platform, which became the leading English language tool for teachers in 2021. More than 1.5 million students have used the application to continue their English studies at home.
- Helped in Oracle's Redwood redesign project by redesigning how users think about enterprise system dashboards. Used smart algorithmic logic and machine learning to enhance the day-to-day working lives of over 25 million users.
- Redesigned the Polymatica data science application, which increased its market share by over 26% in the first 12 months after relaunch.
UX/UI Designer
HeliumDeploy
- Provided a complete UX and sales audit of the company's Shopify marketing website and conversion flows.
- Examined the company's product offerings to allow it to scale sales and support operations.
- Designed flows and landing pages to engage and convert sales into product packages.
CRO Designer
Beyond Dept
- Audited funnel process to increase conversions and quality. Used analytical data to make design decisions focused on reducing friction and increasing the number of customers that found the product which suited their needs.
- Analyzed the sites and funneled traffic to gain key insights into the user's behaviors. Redesigned the funnel process to reduce friction and increase conversations.
- Redesigned the UI to allow the user to move faster and understand more of what the task required.
UX/CX Strategy Consultant
FICO
- Led the CX strategy transformation for a Fortune 500 SaaS company serving the financial industry. The project involved mapping the current state, identifying best practices, and defining a 10x target operating model.
- Held 21 stakeholder interviews and five SME interviews to gather key insights and align on the company's current state and 10x vision; also did over 38 hours of CX research interviews.
- Designed the current state, transitional states, and future operating model.
- Held seven hours of client workshops to align stakeholders on key insights.
- Designed customer and sales journeys for the company's target customer models.
Creative Director | Head of User Experience
Strands
- Designed the first personal financial management application, which won the Finovate award for best new banking application and is now integrated into over 600 banks worldwide.
- Created the first Agile UX processes, which worked seamlessly with Agile development. Shared this methodology with over 100 startups in Barcelona, which radically changed how the industry of UX works today.
- Designed the first personal financial management application called MoneyStrands, which won the Finovate Awards for best new financial application and the Webby design award for best application design.
Education
Bachelor’s Degree in Building Surveying BSc
Northumbria University - Newcastle, England
Certifications
Interaction Design Specialization
UC San Diego via Coursera
CIW Web Design Specialist
CIW
Professional Qualification in Solaris Systems, UNIX, Oracle Database, Network Engineering
Sun Education
MCSE
Microsoft
Skills
Tools
Figma, Sketch, InVision, Adobe Experience Design (XD), Adobe Analytics, UX Tools, Google Sheets, Miro, Sublime Text 3, Git, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Bubble, Jira, Confluence, Adobe InDesign, OmniGraffle, Balsamiq, Zeplin, Adobe CC, Origami Studio
Languages
HTML5, CSS, HTML, HTML4, JavaScript, PHP, Java
Platforms
UserZoom, iOS, Android, WordPress, Adobe Suite, Mobile, Unix, Oracle Database, Shopify, Webflow, Google Sites, Visual Studio Code (VS Code)
Industry Expertise
Marketing, Retail & Wholesale, Consumer Products, Technology, Advertising, Real Estate
Other
UX Design, UX Research, App UX, Web UX, Web App UX, UI Design, Commercial Interior Design, Systems, Web Design, eCommerce UX, eCommerce UI, Web UI Design, Online Banking, Digital Banking, Fintech, UX Testing, User Flows, User Journey Maps, User Journeys, Process Flows, Process Design, Design Systems, User Personas, Agile UX, Agile Sprints, Agile Delivery, Lean UX, MVP Design, UX Leadership, A/B Testing, Experience Maps, Design Sprints, Mental Model, Mobile Prototypes, Interactive Prototypes, Low-fidelity Prototypes, High-fidelity Prototypes, Annotated Wireframes, Card Sorting, Usability Testing, Unmoderated Remote Usability Testing, Quantitative Survey, User Interviews, Focus Groups, Use Cases, Product Roadmaps, Sitemaps, Heuristic Analysis, Taxonomy, Journey Mapping, Value Proposition Design, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Brainstorming, Digital Storyboards, Web UI, App UI, Art Direction, Product Design, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), User-centered Design (UCD), Interaction Design (IxD), Visual Hierarchy, Agile, Stakeholder Engagement, Design Strategy, Digital Product Design, Wireframing, User Onboarding, Business Process Modeling, Brand Design, Complex Application User Interfaces (UI), Prototyping, Quality Auditing, UI Style Guides, User Research, UX Analysis, Visual Storytelling, Project Management, SaaS Design, Mobile Design, Mobile App Design, Rapid Interactive Prototyping, Responsive UI, Responsive UX Design, Visual Design, Branding, Web App Design, Web App UI, Responsive Web Design (RWD), High-fidelity Mockups, eCommerce, Shopify Design, Conversion, Conversion Rate, CX Strategy, UX Strategy, Customer Experience, User Behavior, Behavioral Economics, Behavioral Testing, Behavior-driven Design, Behavioral Science, Behavioral Design, Consumer Behavior, Landing Page Design, Web 3.0, Blockchain, Early-stage Startups, Dashboard Design, Personal Finance, UI Animation, UX Audits, SaaS, Component Libraries, Dashboards, Graphic Design, Badges, Web Applications, User Testing, Validated User Research, Learning Management Systems (LMS), Design Leadership, Mobile UI, Mobile UX, Discovery Workshops, Personas, User Stories, Project Estimation, CRM Design, Usability, Accessibility, Target Operating Models, Data Visualization, B2B, Design, Scrum, Product Management, Agile Product Management, Product Strategy, Design Thinking, Innovation, Customer Journeys, Business Strategy, Consulting, Go-to-market Strategy, Product Strategy Consultant, Startups, Lean Startups, Project Design & Management, Product Owner, SaaS Product Management, Agile Project Management, Strategy, Leadership, Human-centered Design (HCD), Marketing Design, Storytelling, Stakeholder Interviews, Workshops, Quantitative Research, Design Research, Monetization, Growth, Rapid Prototyping, Web UX Design, User Experience Strategy, Research, Competitive Analysis, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Strategic Design, Apps, Material Design, UX Wireframes, UI Components, Websites, Landing Pages, User Conversion, Report Design, Mobile UX Design, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Content Management Systems (CMS), User Validation, Information Architecture (IA), Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Learning, Responsive Design, B2C, Presentation Design, Communication Design, Customer Research, Digital Marketing, Search, App Design, Style Guides, Mockups, Maps, Design Reviews, Website Builders, WYSIWYG Web Builders, Mobile UI Design, Web Application Design, UI Audits, Layout Design, Design Workshops, Feature Prioritization, Remote User Testing, WCAG 2, Native Mobile Apps, Creative Direction, Motion Design, Interactive UI, Touchscreens, Event Branding, Interior Design, Museums & Exhibits, Logo Design, Management, Checkout, Presentations, Ideation Workshops, Digital Transformation, Direct to Consumer (D2C), iOS App Design, iOS Animations, Usability Analysis, Copywriting, Usability Heuristics, UX Review, Interviews, JTBD Interviews, Heuristic Review, Heuristic Reports, Heuristic Evaluation, Heuristic Ideation Technique, Heuristics, Client Interviews, Messaging, UI Prototyping, Proof of Concept (POC), Product Conceptualization, Packaging, User Experience Design, Ideation, Chatbots, Design Libraries, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Stakeholder Management, Audits, Texting, Wizards, Naming, Consumer-facing Product Design, Tablet Design, WordPress Design, Responsive Web Apps, Color Palettes, Typography, DataViz, Qualitative Research, Team Management, Research Reports, Communication, Technical Diagrams, Diagrams, Mentorship, Team Mentoring, Emerging Technologies, Website Audits, System Design, Story Mapping, Surveys, Design Consultation, Cryptocurrency, BTC Wallet, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Service Design, Best Practices in Design, Layout, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Data-heavy Design, Adobe UX, Building Services Design, IT Networking, System Architecture, Storage Products, Finance, Diary Studies, Pattern Libraries, Eye Tracking, Analysis, Task Analysis, Service Blueprints, 2D Animation, Rentals, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Award-winning, Illustration, Apache Solr, Sustainability, Metrics, Front-end, Software Design, Internet of Things (IoT), Chatbot Conversation Design, Animated Interactions, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Crypto, JetBrains, Integrated Development Environments (IDE), Drones, Non-fungible Tokens (NFT), Cryptocurrency Payments, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Cryptocurrency Wallets, 3D Architecture, Surveying, Backups, Game Art, Business Operations, B2C Marketing, UX Documentation, Enterprise SaaS, 10x Method, Change Management, Mobile Banking
Experience
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